China investigates Meituan and Alibaba units for suspected antitrust violations

SHANGHAI: China’s market regulator is investigating Meituan unit Beijing Sankuai Information Technology for suspected violations of unfair competition laws, the country’s official CCTV broadcaster reported on Saturday.

China has been cracking down on monopolistic behaviour, most recently fining Trip.com 5.2 billion yuan ($776.41 million) over what the regulator said was its online hotel-booking monopoly, as Beijing struggles to bolster consumption amid a slowing economy.

The Beijing branch of the State Administration for Market Regulation said Alibaba unit Hangzhou Taomei Aviation Services, Tongcheng Network Technology and Tujia Online Information Technology (Tianjin) were also subject to investigation after preliminary findings, according to CCTV.

Tongcheng and Tujia said in posts on their official WeChat accounts that their operations are normal and that they are cooperating with authorities. Meituan said in a post on its official website that it will cooperate with authorities.

Hangzhou Taomei said in an official WeChat post it is cooperating with regulators.

The China Hotel Association said on Saturday that Beijing’s branch of SAMR has started investigating four online hotel and travel booking platforms for unfair competitive practices, without identifying the operators of the platforms.

The statement on the association’s website said the move followed a meeting held by the SAMR and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism for the online booking industry.